1.08 miles in 9:28

connect.garmin.com/activity/66174623

when i posted an image of the current weather conditions on dailymile earlier this morning, melodie p said, "please, please, please say you didn't run in that." it was 0.7 degrees with a 22mph wind making it feel like -22. brrrr! i assured my concerned friend that i didn't run in "that" and went on getting ready to run.

by the time i was actually dressed and ready, the temp had dropped to 0.3 degrees and there was a 30mph wind making it feel like -25. that made me feel better. i could keep my word and still get in a run.

i went out on the porch and picked up my garmin which i'd set out earlier to find some satellite signals. a small snow drift was forming on the south side of the tiny gadget. crazy! i hid behind the pillar on our porch and strapped it onto my wrist and then took my first steps into the wind.

i made my way quickly to the corner of pine and vine and then hit "start" on the face of my garmin at the same time the wind hit "stop" on the face of my body. it was actually fairly hard to just breath with the wind forcing its way into my mouth. it wanted to shove everything back into my lungs. i ducked my head a bit and kept going.

when i rounded the corner onto allen, the wind became less of a factor and my glasses, which i thought i needed to keep my eyeballs from freezing, completely frosted over. i couldn't see a thing. i left them on to shield my hazel irises and inky pupils, but they were making things difficult. through the next three turns, i had to keep lifting the lenses up to see where i was. i avoided running into Andrew K.'s trash cans which had blown out into the street. (sorry i didn't stop to move them back into your yard, andrew. i was afraid to quit moving for fear of freezing in place.)

when i was finally heading south with the wind at my back, i ripped my glasses off so i could see better. i ran as lightly as i could through each snow drift that presented itself, but i was still slipping with every tenth or eleventh step. i spotted a friend from church out bringing his trash can in and tried to run as quietly as i could. i didn't want my activities reported to anyone.

i ran on south to walnut and then turned east toward home. my thoughts of running two miles had vanished earlier so i had no aim, but to make it back to pine and vine in one less-than-frozen piece. i ran to elm, ran north into the wind as quickly as i could and then turned for the final block to the finish line.

there was no pause to catch my breath at pine and vine. i hit "stop" on my garmin and walked quickly to my porch and indoors. i don't think i'll be running any more outside miles today. maybe the treadmill isn't so bad afterall.